Respecting your food

It's trendy to care about sustainability. Here's the way to do this to your advantage while you save the environment and the food supply.

How much of your food do you waste? Is it in your best interests to always buy fresh foods?

It's great to buy fresh foods if we will be eating them right away. But, consider the amount of food that we throw away when we don't - a waste of living plants that took effort to grow or animals that ended life for your nourishment.

As it turns out, much of what we toss away in the preparation process (stems, skins, etc.) is still full of nutrients. All  fresh vegetables might not be as aesthetic as we'd like for presentation in the fresh form but think about how we can use all of what we purchase with new recipes, Potato skins are a perfect example of how to take advantage of the most nutritious part of a potato.

Take care not to buy fresh foods that will not be used in 2-3 days as not only will they be less asthetic but also will lose the flavor and any nutrient content advantage over frozen or canned in no time at all. Consider buying frozen foods that are used within a month. Canned foods can be the fundamentals in our pantry - canned beans, and canned tomatoes  - all great staples that are high in nutrients without waste. Canned tomatoes have lycopene levels that are higher than in fresh tomatoes. And now, crock pots are now in fashion saving us time and money while providing wonderful meals.  Canned tuna add protein to any dish in minutes. Consider light varieties have less mercury than white or albacore.